Champion Local Schools’ PK-8 benefits local trades community

Champion Local Schools’ PK-8 benefits local trades community

Submitted by Kim Adams, Hammond Construction

The new Champion PK-8 School is just weeks away from the start of school, with a grand opening and dedication ceremony planned for the community this month. The new building will consolidate the district to a single campus located next to the existing Champion High School. The PK-8 school embraces flexible learning environments, including classrooms with moveable doors, partitions, furniture and state of the art technology. The classrooms and gathering spaces are filled with light from large windows and skylights located throughout the building.

As you walk through the hallways, is it obvious to see what a positive impact this building will have on the students, but the untold story is what this project has meant for the Mahoning Valley trades industry. Bill Schurman, President of Hammond Construction, says “there is an excellent caliber of subcontractors in the Mahoning Valley, making it a pleasure to work in the area. The local trades demonstrate pride in delivering quality work”. Many of the skilled trades people have personal ties to the community and school district. “Having the opportunity to work near your home in our industry is not common, so for many of the workers on the Champion project, this has been uniquely rewarding”.

The school broke ground in the Fall of 2016 and started the building foundations in the spring of 2017. At the height of construction, there were as many as 100 workers on site daily. During the 17 months of building construction, there was an average of 50 to 75 workers on site every day. For anyone who is familiar with the local trades industry, you would see many familiar names represented in tradesmen spread throughout the building.

A total of 17 subcontractors were hired to work on the PK-8 building who are local to the Mahoning Valley (see full list in box below). The majority of the owners and workers for these companies live in the area, including Champion, Niles, Warren and Youngstown. One of the contractors who has been on site since the beginning is Tri-Area Electric, a company based out of Youngstown. Renee Cooper, a fifth year apprentice who works for Tri-Area, is also a Champion resident. Renee has lived in this community for the past 11 years and currently has four children in the district. Renee’s youngest son will be starting school this month in the new building. She has been on site every day since April of 2017 and the opportunity to work in her hometown has been a great experience. Renee says “I voted for the bond issue, I pay taxes in the district, and I am just really proud of this building for our community.”

The building dedication ceremony is planned for Friday, August 17th at 5:30pm, with the building open to the public for tours from 6:30 p.m. – 7:30 p.m.